Friday, March 23, 2012

Comments in Real Life

Imagine for a moment that the online world of men's style blogging existed in our actual lives. Imagine that you are a man who takes some care (but does not obsess) in presenting himself to the world on a daily basis.

Now imagine that people came up to you in public (unsolicited) with things like:

"Excuse me, we have never met, but I wanted to tell you that your herringbone jacket is cut slightly too short, and that the lapel roll is a little floppy. Also, your brown shoes are not really appropriate for the city."

or

"Hi, I am an adult male who was walking in the other direction and I couldn't help but notice that your pocket square seems to be the wrong choice. I would have paired a darker one with that tie. I also think that your socks are too winter for the rest of the outfit. Bye."

17 comments:

Brilliant! I don't have an account to anything, because I rarely comment as I hate to get caught up in the drama of exactly what you are talking about on message boards. To each their own. There are lots of different types out there, with different styles. If a person is wearing a herringbone jacket, brown shoes and a pocket square, I say they are headed in the right direction.

You should thank them when this happens. Otherwise, you will go through life with short jackets, floppy lapel rolls, inappropriate brown shoes, incorrect pocket squares and questionable socks. --Road to Parnassus

As I remember, he was wearing one of those odd tightly fitted bias-cut shirts you used to see on Landsdowne St. after 10pm... the kind where they'd turn back the barrel cuffs to reveal a contrasting pattern.

Haha I just found your link hidden at the bottom. Love that song. This blog gives one of the best windows into a misunderstood world that is not how people think it is. You joke about being pretentious but youre a great mythbuster as Kionon called you in his blog. To use a sailing term you take the wind out of so many very pretentious sails and your readers really appreciate it. BTW I am up to 11 volunteered hours already!

From my fraternity experience at a Southern university, the culprits are usually sartorially-inclined brothers who know you care about these things. If you never get called out face-to-face, then you have long since lost their approval. It's like being made fun of: If you get picked on (innocently), you know people like you. If you never hear a peep, then you should re-assess your likability. Constructive criticism is ok. Elitist criticism is unwarranted.